BoxRec

If you are going to let guys like Roy Jones Jr. keep fighting, would it be good to create some sort of separate division for older/inactive fighters who aren't really trying to win world titles anymore.

There could be faster stoppages or other safety stuff.
Also, I think it would create more interest in those fights because it would be towards a reachable "goal", that everyone can share in, as opposed to meaningless fights towards more brain damage.

A 147 pound tourney for the old man welterweight title ... or Legends division, whatever.
Judah, Mosley, Malinaggi, plus whoever ... it's a lot better than what they are doing now.
Could be undercard fights to open a show.

Also, guys like Emmanuel Augustus or Darnell Boone could excel and entertain in this kind of environment.

No. Part of the reason fighters retire is that they can no longer beat the young guys. Giving them an avenue to continue to eat punches for another ten years is crazy.

punchoutsb wrote:No. Part of the reason fighters retire is that they can no longer beat the young guys. Giving them an avenue to continue to eat punches for another ten years is crazy.

agree, also Augustus is dead i think so that would be in poor taste if they let him fight again !

littlepug wrote:

punchoutsb wrote:No. Part of the reason fighters retire is that they can no longer beat the young guys. Giving them an avenue to continue to eat punches for another ten years is crazy.

agree, also Augustus is dead i think so that would be in poor taste if they let him fight again !

No Augustus isn't dead, but he couldn't compete anymore. He was shot in the head, and has pretty severe nerve damage as I understand it.

I mean I don't think there should ever officially be a "Seniors" division in Boxing because like someone else alluded to these guys should be encouraged to retire not fight on for a decade after their expiration, but if old timers are going to insist on fighting on I'd rather see old timers vs old timers rather than an old name being brought in to get taken apart by a young fighter.

Mosley vs Judah or Malignaggi might not be bad for the hell of it.

gilgamesh wrote:

littlepug wrote:

punchoutsb wrote:No. Part of the reason fighters retire is that they can no longer beat the young guys. Giving them an avenue to continue to eat punches for another ten years is crazy.

agree, also Augustus is dead i think so that would be in poor taste if they let him fight again !

No Augustus isn't dead, but he couldn't compete anymore. He was shot in the head, and has pretty severe nerve damage as I understand it.

wow didnt think he had survived that !

A "seniors" grade for each weight class?
I could probably agree with it, if it was limited to 3/4/5 rounders.

No they should be encouraged to retire. Every sanctioning body should ban them from the sport if they are just eating punches with duller reflexes and constantly losing.

What we need is some sort of organization that protects some of a fighters purse so they can retire witout being broke. Yearly checkups to make sure they aren't on the verge of developing pugilistic dementia, forcing people to retire if they've been knocked out more than 3x in a row or have lost more than 6 of their last ten fights, etc.

Absolutely not.

The risks are too great. The blood vessels in the body become damaged and degenerate over the years, the risk of injury to the brain accelerates rapidly with older people getting hit in the head. Anything that encourages people over 40 to continue fighting is a bad idea.

Cygnus475 wrote:No they should be encouraged to retire. Every sanctioning body should ban them from the sport if they are just eating punches with duller reflexes and constantly losing.

What we need is some sort of organization that protects some of a fighters purse so they can retire witout being broke. Yearly checkups to make sure they aren't on the verge of developing pugilistic dementia, forcing people to retire if they've been knocked out more than 3x in a row or have lost more than 6 of their last ten fights, etc.

This was tried in the UK, but failed, nobody wanted to sign away a portion of their winnings.